Her Side of the Mountain
by frogfarm
Summary: The wedding goes off without a hitch, until they realize time is catching up with Jack. The story of Ashi, the day after and beyond.


A light haze fills the air, slowly dissipating as they survey the shattered landscape. Aku's tower lies in ruins at the center of a smoking circle, the faintest smell of something rotten already fading into nothing. Ashi's heart swells with love for the man at her side.

Then a clenching flutter unfurls throughout her being, and she falls to her knees with a gasp. Jack calls out her name and runs to her, holding her in his arms.

She looks up into his eyes with growing wonder. "I felt him leave me."

Jack's eyebrows rise in understanding, and he smiles.

"But you are still here."

The blackness ripples and flows, fading into nothing as she returns his embrace. Everything vanishes but for the warmth and iron muscle of his body, sharing its strength with her.

"And he will never hurt anyone," Jack murmurs, holding her close. "Ever again."

The next few days are a whirlwind. Of wondrous new sights, and people - so many! - from all over the world, each with their own unique story of how they had contributed to Jack's training. Whenever she feels overwhelmed she seeks refuge with his mother, who fusses over Ashi like her own child, banishing the painful memories of of Aku's priestess from her wandering thoughts. The wedding is glorious in every way and goes off without a hitch; everyone in attendance riveted by her beauty and moved to tears at their solemn declarations, spoken with the purity of love. Music flows from the palace courtyard as the sun sets, a multitude of guests continuing their revelry long after the bride and groom have retired for the evening.

She awakens before dawn with eyes unopened, the product of lifelong training. From the open window come far-off calls of peasants in fields, of pigs in the fields and a thousand different birds in the trees. She uncurls her body in a luxurious stretch, shivering at the feel of Jack's bedsheets on her skin. His body is a warm presence beside her, a rock standing fast in the face of the centuries with all their weather and wear, and she opens her eyes to find him smiling as he gazes back upon her.

Her smile falters, and she reaches out to touch his face.

"Ashi?" Jack's concern is instant as always. "What is wrong?"

With trembling fingers, she traces the lines in his cheeks. Jack's eyes follow hers to the single strand of grey at his forehead, almost lost in the pile of still-black hair that tumbles about his shoulders. When their eyes meet once more, Ashi nearly cries out at the calm acceptance in his gaze.

"It is the beginning."

Dread rises deep within at his simple pronouncement. "Of what?"

His smile nearly breaks her heart in two.

"Of the end."

* * *

The future is clear by the end of the day, though the actual process is slow. In a way it's worse, leaving them ample time for tearful goodbyes that hurt as much as they help. Ashi spends the first three days alternately raving and consulting with the Emperor's finest minds, men of learning and science from all the known world over. She comes to him at the end of the first week, nearly unable to watch as he rises on unsteady legs from his chair by the fire.

"Ashi - I beg you." His voice is hoarse but still strong, with infinite care for her. "Do not let grief rule over what little time we still have."

She spends the next week learning everything she can about the kingdom as they travel to its farthest reaches, the remotest of villages. Everywhere the rapidly aging Jack is greeted with reverence and awe; always taking care to emphasize to his subjects Ashi's crucial role in returning him to this time and defeating Aku. It embarrasses her, on occasion, but Jack insists he is only assuring her proper place in history. She holds back tears as she watches, inscribing his every word and gesture on her innermost self.

The end comes even sooner than they are prepared for, and on his deathbed, Jack begs her to rule his land and his people wisely and justly. Already able to feel new life stirring within her, Ashi's voice trembles as she swears to guard them with her own.

"Do not cry." Jack's words are barely audible as he summons all his strength to lift his sword, placing it into her hands. "Remember..."

His fingers fall from the hilt, and Ashi gives full rein to grief.

His father mourns but a single day before sealing up his misery, but the bond between Ashi and Jack's mother coaxes the Emperor somewhat out of his retreat. They all find joy and equal sadness in the growing swell of her belly, and the eventual birth of twins, a boy and a girl. When the Emperor and his wife first hold the children in their arms, Ashi takes comfort in remembering Jack's strength above all, in his unrelenting determination that drove him even when all was lost. She heals her adoptive parents' wounds as best she can with tales of her bizarre future world, of the many different people who owed Jack their lives and their freedom.

As for her children, though Ashi does everything she can to raise them in the way of the samurai, it sometimes happens that what she thinks Jack would do ends up conflicting with the time and place she finds herself in. She had barely gotten to know her own world before leaving it forever behind, hurling herself into the unknown past, and her brief time with Jack had taught her to love this backward era, as frustrated as she sometimes finds all its many limitations. But on some days, Ashi feels a hole inside that no smile from her children can fill. She resumes training with newfound vigor, quickly surpassing every master in the land, and yet all her physical ability pales before the memory of what she had done once upon a time: Her body shifting by the moment, as fluid as water; unleashing untold destructive energies from her eyes, to ripping open the very fabric of time itself.

"It felt good. It felt right." She struggles for words. "It felt _natural_."

The ladybug flaps its wings, lifting from her finger before disappearing in the sun.

* * *

The Emperor officially passes the throne to her on his eightieth birthday, having gone blind the previous year. His wife had succumbed to coughing sickness the previous winter, and Ashi helped her grandchildren carry the Empress to the _kofun_ where she was laid to rest. Her heart is full to see her children, every day growing taller and stronger, and it only affirms her own realization that she herself is unchanged from the day she entered her own time portal. And her son is a fine young man, with a good heart, but lacking the indomitable spirit that sustained his father through countless tragedies.

"I worry about him," she confides in her father-in-law one day, as they sit drinking tea.

"As do I." The old Emperor - she will always think of him as such - stares at her, his occluded eyes somehow yet penetrating. "No one wishes their children to come to harm. And yet, these things - they are what make us stronger."

"Then -" Ashi realizes too late how perilously close she is to tears. "I must be the strongest person alive."

Wordlessly, the Emperor opens his frail arms to embrace her. Ashi's silent sobs are swallowed up by his robe as she struggles to compose herself.

"I miss him so much -"

"As do I." He strokes her hair. "But your heart is not a small place."

"I love them - I do."

"But you are not growing old with them." His head bows, nodding in thought. "And this disruption of the natural order is a concern."

"Yes." Her thoughts are becoming clearer, now that she's being forced to think explicitly about the issues. "Like Jack - my passage through the portal seems to have frozen me in time. But without Aku's power, I have no way to undo it."

"Aku himself was profoundly unnatural." The Emperor takes a sip of tea, nodding in approval. "You have not merely survived without his influence - you have flourished. Were your life of mortal span, you would no doubt soon be rocking grandchildren on your knee."

Ashi remains silent. Her loosely flowing kimono suddenly seems overly tight and constricting.

"And the people love you, it is true." The Emperor takes her hand in his, gnarled with age. "But they also fear you."

"For no reason." Ashi sounds too bitter in her own ears, forces it back. "Even if I still had my powers -"

The Emperor raises one eyebrow.

"I mean -" Ashi clears her throat. "Aku's powers."

That night, she has a dream: She is fully of Aku once more, glorious and terrible, yet somehow still herself. But the look on Jack's face is far too familiar, the doom and determination of a man who has lost every last hope.

I _forgive you_ , she tries to tell him. _My sisters - they weren't strong enough._

 _Death is failure._ He gazes up at her, tragedy etched into his features. _Your father taught you well._

 _He never loved me_ , she wants to scream. _Not like you_. But it's all blown away, scattered dead leaves on the wind.

She awakens drenched in sweat, one hand cupped between her legs. For a moment a confused keen of pleasure falls from her lips, and then memory returns like a bolt of thunder. Of Jack's strong embrace; of the passionate declarations tumbling from his sweet lips.

Of the love in his eyes, as they closed for the final time.

She whips off the bedcovers and strides naked to the window, gripping the sill as she stares out over the countryside. It's still early, and the village below is shrouded in darkness, with only a few isolated lanterns scurrying to and fro.

 _Am I looking for you?_ The words echo in her thoughts, unanswered. _Or myself?_

* * *

Her morning meditations having failed to calm her restless spirit, Ashi hurries out to the garden for her daily meeting with the old Emperor. When the weather is sunny he will sometimes spend all day out here, the sun on his face, his still-dexterous hands folding an endless stream of paper cranes.

She approaches the chair to find his hands idle. Nonetheless his chest still moves with each breath, and with minimal encouragement he manages to sit up, turning his face toward her.

"I feel as though...if Jack were here, it wouldn't matter? But without him I feel the loss of Aku's power, like a missing limb, or an eye. Something vital has been taken from me - something I didn't even know I missed until it was gone."

Ashi pauses to collect her thoughts.

"I never knew my mother. And then I hated her, for what she had done. To me... to my sisters." She takes a deep breath, the scent of jasmine heavy in the air. "But it wasn't just Jack's love that enabled me to reject Aku. My mother, for all her evil...was human. And it was that humanity that Jack spoke to. That answered him."

The Emperor says nothing as he gazes up at her. But his eyes are filled with patience and love.

"She must have been such a strong person. And...I wish I could have saved her." Ashi finds herself struggling to hold back tears. "Saved all of them."

"Child." The Emperor's voice is faint but steady. "Do not let the last sight these eyes see be your tears."

"You are blind, old man." And Ashi laughs even as she wipes the tears from her face, continuing to hold his hand throughout the day, into the night.

Just before dawn, the Emperor breathes his last.

* * *

The kingdom has been peaceful and prosperous under her reign, but Ashi cannot rid herself of worry when it comes to her own children. Her daughter, at least, has always taken the stories of the past with all the seriousness of a warrior born.

"He thinks it could never happen." Ani parries the stroke aimed at her side, the bamboo _kendo_ swords meeting with a ring and a crack. "Not again."

Ashi holds up her hand, signalling a halt. "And you?"

Ani is only an inch shorter than her mother, tall for her age. She looks Ashi in the eye as her breathing slows.

"I think anything can happen."

Ashi nods, unable to hide a fresh wave of concern.

"Don't worry." Ani's voice grows softer. "I'll protect him."

"I know you will." Ashi allows herself a tiny smile. "And I have something for you."

"Oh -" Ani falls silent, her mouth ajar, eyes wide with trepidation.

"You know I wouldn't give this to you if I didn't think you were right for it." Ashi reaches out and squeezes her daughter's shoulder. "Do me a favor, and don't make me look like an idiot."

"I -" Ani bows her head and nods once; when she looks back up, her gaze reflecting a new level of understanding and acceptance. She reaches out to grasp the sacred sword by the hilt, raising it in a salute to her mother before donning the scabbard, sheathing her weapon with a look of grim determination.

"That's my girl." And Ashi hugs her daughter for the first time in years. "I know you'll do good. And do it well."

"But what about you?" Ani disengages, looking a little uncomfortable. She's never been much of a hugger. "Where are you going?"

Ashi springs to the railing of the balcony, perching there a moment as she sniffs the air.

"I think it's called a spirit quest."

Taking a deep breath, she launches herself from the railing, diving into the forest canopy.

 _I will find you._

Her _kusarigama_ flies, a new model constructed by the kingdom's finest weaponsmiths; the hiss of its chain sizzling the air as blade finds branch.

 _Nothing will stop me._

* * *

It doesn't take a round of consultation with the wisest magicians in the land for Ashi to determine that the shortest path to the spirit realm is still an awfully long way. She considers brewing mushroom tea in an attempt to speed matters along, but finally settles on a good old-fashioned fasting, accompanied by plenty of icy baths in the river each morning. Then her path takes her into the mountains, where the river is no more, and the air is cold enough that it's hard to say she misses it.

The plateau at the summit gives her a stunning view of the landscape stretching all the way to the horizon. Ashi sits and crosses her legs, ignoring the ache in her spine, slowing her breath to a crawl.

For a while, nothing happens.

* * *

Her spirit guide turns out to be a woman with the look of a gypsy. Ashi would be taking more of an interest in her appearance and their surroundings, but the gnawing pit inside her belly is once more making its presence felt at the smell of steeping tea leaves, the sight of the pot steaming on the table before her.

"Most people fight to be with their love." The woman cocks her head to one side. "You fight to honor him."

"I do." Weak from hunger, Ashi can barely stand. She forces her spine straight, as straight as the arrow with which she slew her mother.

"Well, in that case I think we can skip the formalities." The woman gestures for Ashi to sit. "Please, have some tea. We're not savages."

Ashi's head is whirling as she sips, doing her best to relax into meditative calmness.

"I think I know where I need to be." She looks around the cluttered but cozy room, marvelling at the unusual decor and colors, the numerous strange and unknown objects. "I'm just not sure how to get there."

The woman nods, pouring her own tea out with a careful eye.

"Time, as you've discovered, is trivial. Space? Walk in the park, by comparison. Dimensions, relative and otherwise - that's where things can get tricky."

Ashi's heart sinks. The woman chuckles.

"So we'll cheat."

Ashi blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"We'll replace the you who died. Or rather, the you who never existed."

Ashi tries to reconcile this. "But - won't *I* have never existed?"

"You'll be in the same dimension. Different future. Not exactly the same, but - close enough."

The woman's smile lights up the room.

"And I have something else for you."

* * *

A light haze fills the air, slowly dissipating from the shattered landscape. Aku's tower lies in ruins at the center of a smoking circle, the faintest smell of something rotten already fading into nothing. From all around come the faint moans of those still living, and those wishing for death.

An ocean of blackness shimmers into existence.

Black fire fills her heart, her power restored as she phases fully into this plane of reality. For a moment she _is_ Aku, blotting out the sky as she wields her flaming sword, ready to burn and destroy existence itself.

Then the blackness recedes from her face, the enormous horns melting away as her body shrinks to its normal human size.

Ashi gazes down at the flat ebon covering her from neck to toe and frowns, furrowing her brow. The blackness ripples and shifts as if in protest before shivering, shimmering into a black skirt and top, a copy of the forest-green outfit she made after first scrubbing away the stain of Aku. Trying to, anyway.

Then she looks up, and around, and her heart fills with sorrow to see the death and destruction Aku has wrought. Great holes scar the earth, the spikes that had caused them apparently having vanished along with all other trace of the Shogun of Sorrow. Even now the survivors are staggering to their feet; ravers crawling out from the wreckage of their crashed ships, helped to their feet by archers and Spartans. The Scotsman's daughters, who appear to have suffered no casualties, are in fact in fine shape as they level their swords at her with murderous intent etched on their craggy, cute faces.

"She killed Jack!" someone shouts. A groan of pain is drowned out by a murmur of confirmation rippling through the crowd.

"No." Ashi's voice rings out, as clear as the day. "He saved me. And I saved him."

The muttering grows louder, then falls silent as she holds up the sword in her hand.

"And he gave me this."

* * *

Sir Rothchild's grandpuppies have arrived with construction equipment to help excavate, pausing only to doff their hats and bay mournfully when their sire's body is pulled from the shattered remains of his ship. Ashi uses her shape-shifting ability to help lift away rubble, but even this draws fearful glances from the corners of many eyes. Particularly the Woolies, who practically rear up on their hind legs every time she brushes up against one's personal space.

The afternoon sun is beginning to sink in the sky, and the puppies set up floodlights in order to keep working. Ashi builds a fire off to one side, and sinks to the ground, leaning against a fallen slab of rock. The sword emits no heat or visible glow, makes no sound whatsoever, and yet she can feel it at her side, as reassuring a presence as Jack himself.

"Hullo."

Ashi peers into the darkness as red locks emerge into the light. It appears to be the youngest of the Scotsman's daughters.

"Ah'm Kina," the girl confirms. "Can I...get ye anything?"

"That's okay." Ashi gazes into the flames, awaiting an outcome.

Kina shrugs and takes a seat close to the fire. Ashi can't help a chuckle.

"So you're the only one brave enough to sit with me?"

Kina looks around, and back at Ashi.

"Ah guess so."

* * *

At least a few more stragglers get up the nerve to join them throughout the night. Come morning there's a crowd of about twenty gathered about the remains of the fire, and when Ashi rises from her vigil and lifts the sword over her head, every living soul falls silent.

"I pledge on my life, and on this sword, to honor the memory of the samurai." Ashi can feel the power humming within the blade, sense with an absolute certainty its destructive potential. "To fight injustice and oppression."

She bows her head.

"To be worthy of him."

* * *

"But Aku did not know the secret of the sword's power. And when he tried to kill the samurai with it, do you know what happened?"

"He failed!" one of the puppies shouts, bouncing with excitement. "Fail, fail, fail!"

"That's right." Ashi smiles and scratches him behind the ears.

"So -" Kina's brow furrows as she puts things together in her head. "Ye say the sword left Jack when he wavered from the path?"

"Of righteousness." Ashi nods. "I only wield the sword because I am righteous. And if I am ever not..."

Kina frowns. "It will leave ye?"

A faint smile brushes Ashi's lips. "I think it would kill me."

"Eh." Kina shrugs, her smile full of kindness. "Ess more'n fair, aye?"  
The sun sets on a bustling, busy encampment with voices raised in discussion, in laughter and in hope. The blasted landscape is still a ruin, blackened and barren, as Ashi gazes round.

But here and there, already poking up from the ground, she can see flowers.


End file.
